“I was watching Yellow-vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus goiavier) feeding on a fruit of a wayside bush (above) when a flock of 18-20 Baya Weavers (Ploceus philippinus) descend on the bush (below).
“I was surprised to see them also take the fruit. I recently posted a number of observations of Baya Weavers feeding on nectar, but fruit is unexpected. See: HERE.
“Wells 2007 records observations of these birds feeding on fallen Oil Palm fruit. Apart from that I am not able to identify any other records of frugivory by this species. Would appreciate information from anyone who has had similar observations.
“Also feeding on the fruit apart from the Yellow-vented Bulbuls (common food for this species) and Baya Weavers was a single immature Java Sparrow (Lonchura oryzivora) and Asian Glossy Starlings (Aplonis panayensis strigata) (below).
“I saw, but failed to capture on camera, fruit feeding by the Java Sparrow.
“The plant in question is a common wayside bush whose name I am not aware of (above). I think this is not a native plant but introduced many years ago. The fruit is particular favourite of the Yellow-vented Bulbuls.”
Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
31st August 2015
Location: Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Habitat: Secondary growth near Chinese graveyard
Addendum:
Dr David R Wells queried whether the birds were after the seeds the fruit contained. To this Amar responded, “Thank you for the valuable comment. I had considered this. I did see some fruit discarded but also some fruit swallowed. If I have an opportunity this week, I will return to check the content of the fruit and obtain more observations (mosquito volume huge at the site).”
2 responses
very interesting topic! – thanks to Weng Chun to share the information. but is there any a thorough study about folivorous bird, and possible to freely accessed maybe?
You need to google…